Ubisoft delays Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Red Steel

Ubisoft has announced that much-awaited sequels Splinter Cell: Conviction, Red Steel 2 and a new Ghost Recon title have all been pushed back to various points in 2010.

The French publishing giant revealed in financial quarterly reports that Splinter Cell and Red Steel are destined for the first three months of 2010. Moreover, a new entry in the tactical-shooting Ghost Recon series has been pushed back to at least mid-2010, where it “will now strengthen the line-up for fiscal 2010-11,” which for Ubisoft begins next April.

During the requisite conference call discussing the results, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot took the time to explain the delays:

It’s just a question of polish. The team was asking that they couldn’t be with the level of quality on all the maps and all the game for the end of the year, so they had asked for more time to be able to come with a better product, for both [Splinter Cell and Red Steel]. The quality of the games is there for what you’ve been able to see at E3, but we were not able to have that same quality on the full game of those two products.

The delays come at a price, however. When asked how many sales might be lost by not releasing during the holiday season, the CEO estimated “it’s around a million units.” That’s not a small number. Still, Guillemot insisted, it’s better than releasing a sub-prime game at a time of year when every publisher has to bring their A-game. “We think that on the long-term they can achieve more units than what they would’ve done.”

As for Splinter Cell: Conviction‘s “exclusivity” to the Xbox 360, the Ubisoft man maintained that it’s no chip on Microsoft’s shoulder. “We still have the full support of Microsoft because they know that if we can bring a very high-quality game this will help their machine,” Guillemot stated.